Sweatdrop Studios are a collective of UK Original English-language manga creators who publish British small press comics.
The UK's first[ citation needed ] home-based independent Original English-language manga publisher and distributor, Sweatdrop Studios publish and distribute manga produced solely by creators living within the UK. Their comics are available for from their own website or at UK anime conventions that they attend.
The majority of works published by Sweatdrop are amateur ventures; the artists/authors do not make a living through profits, and produce and sell their works in their own time[ citation needed ]. There are, however, a few exceptions to this, such as Draw Manga ( ISBN 1845374169), a professional book published under the Sweatdrop Studios name and also 'Manga Life', a series of self-help books for Infinite Ideas. [1]
Sweatdrop is frequently mentioned in the UK's only anime, manga and Asian cinema magazine, Neo, in which members regularly produce tutorials[ citation needed ]. Members have also featured in other magazines, Hayden Scott-Baron was featured in Advanced Photoshop magazine. [2] Joanna Zhou & Emma Vieceli have been featured artists in ImagineFX . [3]
The group is known for running workshops and panels at numerous events [4] (see also workshops listed below).
The Studio was founded in 2001, [5] by a co-operative of four independent UK manga artists, who, until then, had been self-publishing at a small-press level individually. These artists were Hayden Scott-Baron, Laura Watton, Sam Brown and Foxy, who had met via their attendance at UK manga conventions. Fehed Said, Selina Dean and Aleister Kelman had also been members when the Studio formed, although they were not present at the conventions.
Members of the Studio participate in its activities to varying degrees, depending on their personal circumstances. These activities include: publishing comics, participating in writing manga drawing tutorials in magazines, attending conventions and events, running workshops and panels and administration of their website ( http://www.sweatdrop.com/ ) and its forum.
Pen name | Real name | Profile |
---|---|---|
Bex | Rebecca Burgess | |
Dock | Hayden Scott-Baron | |
Emma Vieceli | ||
Irina Richards | ||
Joanna Zhou | ||
Morag Lewis | ||
Ruth Keattch | ||
Shazleen Khan | ||
Sonia Leong |
As a collaboration, members of Sweatdrop participate in active discussion on their forum ( http://www.sweatdrop.com/forum/ ). Emoticons are unique on this forum, instead of yellow smileys, blue sweatdrops are used in keeping with the namesake.
Fruits Basket, sometimes abbreviated Furuba or Fruba (フルバ), is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Natsuki Takaya. It was serialized in the semi-monthly Japanese shōjo manga magazine Hana to Yume, published by Hakusensha, from 1998 to 2006. The series' title comes from the name of a popular game played in Japanese elementary schools, which is alluded to in the series.
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Hayden Scott-Baron, known as Dock, is an English professional illustrator and graphic designer. In 2001 he joined up with other comic creators Laura Watton, Sam Brown/Subi and Foxy in founding one of the largest UK Manga Studios, Sweatdrop Studios.
Sonia Leong is a British freelance comic artist, illustrator and member of Sweatdrop Studios.
Emma Vieceli is a British comic book artist and writer. After being a hobbyist at Sweatdrop Studios, she began freelancing professionally as an artist on SelfMadeHero's Manga Shakespeare: Hamlet adaptation in 2007. Her subsequent artist work includes Young Avengers, Back to the Future and Doctor Who. Vieceli started co-writing webcomic BREAKS with Malin Ryden in 2014 and was the writer for the Life is Strange comic adaptation. Bleeding Cool described her as being "embedded into British comic books" and having a "forte" for teenage relationships in 2019.
Laura Watton is a semi-professional UK manga artist and founding member of Sweatdrop Studios. Watton was a member since its inception until 2010, announcing the decision to create works under 'Pinkapplejam.com'. She self-publishes her series Biomecha. Currently residing in Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England Laura creates freelance illustrations.
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Events external links